Dennis Kelly is not the first dramatist to offer us a variation on King Lear. But where Edward Bond's Lear was prompted by unhappiness with the "total resignation" of Shakespeare's tragedy, Dennis Kelly translates its action to the world of corporate greed. Much as I applaud Kelly's ambition, I feel he is, if anything, too much in awe of his mighty prototype.

Kelly's starting point is the decision by Colm, founder of an omnivorous multinational, to retain the title of chairman while splitting the chief executive role between two subordinates. Colm's aim to keep control of Belize, where the company plans to lease out farmland to rich nations, is scuppered first by his son and then by the company's mutually antagonistic new bosses, Richard and Catherine. Corporate infighting escalates into civil war. But, while the rival factions destroy each other, the crazed Colm finds solace living in rural isolation with Barbara, the daughter of a man he once ruthlessly destroyed.

Alain Robbe-Grillet once remarked that Hamlet would not be a masterpiece if it were written today. Similarly, I don't think you can simply apply the structure of King Lear to contemporary Britain. Kelly never makes it clear how corporate rivalry leads to armed conflict: as a result, the play's central section becomes a confusing welter of battle scenes. Maria Aberg's sweeping production is full of imposing performances. An agonised Jeremy Irons manages to make you sympathise with the guilt-haunted Colm, and forges a genuinely loving relationship with Joanna Horton's kindly, pragmatic Barbara. Jonathan Slinger, seething with demonic fury, and Helen Schlesinger as his corporate rival also battle it out with fierce intensity.

You can't fault the acting. But I still feel that Kelly's apocalyptic vision of Britain is Shakespeare's legacy rather than something forged from his own experience.